Clik here to view.
“There is a Conspiracy of Silence Against Me. What Should I Do, Oscar?”“Join...
Oscar Wilde? Augustine Birrell? Lewis Morris? Fictional? Oscar Wilde? Augustine Birrell? Lewis Morris? Fictional? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a popular anecdote about Oscar Wilde that is very...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Play Was a Great Success, But the Audience Was a Total Failure
Oscar Wilde? William Collier? Daniel Frohman? George Bernard Shaw? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I have been involved in several theatrical productions and sometimes the response of an audience...
View ArticleClik here to view.
You Must Know Your Destination Port If You Wish to Catch A Favorable Wind
Oscar Wilde? Seneca the Younger? Leon Tec? Dear Quote Investigator: Recently, I came across a quotation in a pub in Germany that was credited to Oscar Wilde. Your help in tracing this expression would...
View ArticleClik here to view.
America Is the Only Country That Went from Barbarism to Decadence Without...
Ogden Nash? George Bernard Shaw? James Agate? La Liberté? Winston Churchill? Henry James? Oscar Wilde? Georges Clemenceau? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a famous humorous saying about the United...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Absinthe: After the First Glass, You See Things As You Wish They Were
Oscar Wilde? Ada Leverson? Leslie Stokes? Violet Wyndham? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The alcoholic psychoactive drink absinthe was banned in the United States and many European countries in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I Have the Simplest Tastes; I Am Always Satisfied with the Best
Oscar Wilde? Edgar Saltus? Winston Churchill? Randolph Churchill? Lord Birkenhead? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I have discovered two very similar quotations that are credited to two very...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Never Put Off Till Tomorrow What You Can Do The Day After Tomorrow Just As Well
Mark Twain? Oscar Wilde? Josh Billings? Spanish Proverb? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Everyone is guilty of some procrastination. Even the industrious humorist Mark Twain was credited with a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It Is the Mark of a Truly Intelligent Person To Be Moved By Statistics
George Bernard Shaw? Bertrand Russell? Oscar Wilde? John H. Gibbons? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following quotation is used by speakers who are planning to project a series of slides that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
There Are Three Rules for the Writing of a Novel
Somerset Maugham? Oscar Wilde? Mark Twain? Bret Harte? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: With the rapid growth of ebooks it seems that everyone is writing a book. Here is the funniest advice I have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Quotation Is a Serviceable Substitute for Wit
Oscar Wilde? Somerset Maugham? George Bernard Shaw? Voltaire? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I thought you might enjoy the following remark attributed to Oscar Wilde: Quotation is a serviceable...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Every Time I Smell It, I Shall Be Reminded of You
Oscar Wilde? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I saw an article on the web about brilliant repartee that listed the “Top 10 Best Comebacks”. One of the response lines was from the famous wit Oscar...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“I Wish I Had Said That”“You Will, Oscar, You Will”
Oscar Wilde? James McNeill Whistler? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I would like to learn more about a famous anecdote involving James McNeill Whistler, the painter who is known for his iconic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It Is the Best Play I Ever Slept Through
Oscar Wilde? Myron W. Reed? Will Rogers? Charlie Carter? Dear Quote Investigator: Several weeks ago I saw an article with the following humorous title: Why Arianna’s Talk Was the Best I’ve Ever Slept...
View ArticleClik here to view.
History Does Not Repeat Itself. The Historians Repeat One Another
Max Beerbohm? Rupert Brooke? Philip Guedalla? Oscar Wilde? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I have heard two distinct, humorous, and antithetical sayings about the composition of history: 1) History...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Already Taken
Oscar Wilde? Menards? America Ferrera? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I have spent hours trying to determine whether Oscar Wilde wrote the following as commonly claimed: Be Yourself....
View ArticleClik here to view.
You Can’t Use Up Creativity. The More You Use, The More You Have
Maya Angelou? Oscar Wilde? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Recently on Pinterest and Twitter I have seen the following quotation attributed to the famous wit Oscar Wilde: You can’t use up...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Jawbone of an Ass
Oscar Wilde? Lord Paget? Henry Watterson? Apocryphal? Quote Investigator: In modern times a philistine is an uncultured anti-intellectual. In the Bible the Philistine people were enemies of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Briefest Correspondence: Question Mark? Exclamation Mark!
Victor Hugo? Oscar Wilde? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a popular humorous anecdote about an exchange of letters between Victor Hugo and his publisher shortly after the publication of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I Would Challenge You To a Battle of Wits, But I See You Are Unarmed
William Shakespeare? Mark Twain? Oscar Wilde? Winston Churchill? Abby Buchanan Longstreet? Frank Fay? Pierre de Roman? Joey Adams? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There exists a collection of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bigamy Is Having One Spouse Too Many. Monogamy Is the Same
Erica Jong? Oscar Wilde? Robert Webster Jones? H. L. Mencken? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: As a single person I enjoy the following joke about bigamy. Here are two versions: (1) Bigamy is having...
View Article
